Square Allows Smart Phones to Accept Credit Card Payments

Imagine being able to use your smart phone to accept credit card payments at your annual yard sale. The Square team has been developing this innovative service since February, 2009, and just launched its beta phase. Their goal is to bring "immediacy, transparency, and approachability to the world of payments: an inherently social interaction each of us participates in daily." Square's innovation is a small adapter that plugs into the audio impute jack of any smart phone. After setting up an online account, you can use this adapter to accept credit card payments for anything. Square eliminates receipts, gives rewards and even donates a penny from every purchase to a cause of your choice. Beyond shopping, this little device offers a powerful tool to anyone who needs to raise money. It could be scaled to meet a variety of needs, like increasing community donations for a cause or an emergency. Check out this awesome product intro video to see Square in action.

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I'm a multidisciplinary graphic designer and writer living in New York City. My projects have involved designing identities, motion graphics, web sites, exhibition graphics, publications, as well as copywriting and art directing. I look for projects that challenge my thinking and form-making skills, but I'm especially interested in collaborating with non-profits and civic organizations that need help to address complex social problems in ways that might spur lasting social change.

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